Torys deeply regrets the passing of Charles Dubin

Torys is deeply saddened by the passing of Charles Dubin, one of Canada's leading counsel, who retired as Chief Justice of Ontario in 1996.

Charles had a long history with Torys, dating back to the early 1970s, when his firm Kimber, Dubin, Brunner & Armstrong merged with Torys' predecessor firm Tory Tory DesLauriers & Binnington to form Torys' litigation department. Charles remained a senior partner and counsel at Torys until his 1973 appointment to the Ontario Court of Appeal. He was appointed Associate Chief Justice of Ontario in 1987 and Chief Justice of Ontario in 1990. He retained this latter appointment until his retirement from the Court in 1996, when he returned to Torys as counsel.

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1921, Charles was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1950. At the time, he was the youngest person in the British Commonwealth to receive the honour. He has received honorary doctorate of law degrees from the University of Toronto, York University and the Law Society of Upper Canada. Charles was awarded the Order of Ontario in June 1997, and he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in January 1998. In August 1998, Charles was awarded the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Law. During his career, Charles was also appointed to a number of important royal commissions and inquiries, most famously the investigation into drug use in sports after Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal for testing positive for anabolic steroids at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Charles's sage counsel and advice have been important in many of the firm's litigation matters over the past 12 years. Torys will greatly miss Charles's wisdom, friendship and gracious presence.